PC antivirus software question

[Kenneth]

Hi Steve,

I have used Kaspersky AV on our seven systems for the last four years or so. I could not be happier with the product.

I would not even consider any Norton, or Symantec product for a few reasons:

Prior to KAV, we had Norton.

One day, I noticed that one of our systems had a flag telling us that our NAV license was about to expire. I clicked to run though an automatic renewal process.

Within a day or two, the same thing happened on a few of our other machines, but only after renewing three or four of them did I notice a problem:

The warning was actually telling us that the licenses were to expire in thirty days, but when we renewed, we received and automatically installed a license that started on the day of the installation.

In other words, Symantec had found a way to "eat" a month of the license.

It was extremely sleazy to say the least.

But that is only part of the problem:

I called Symantec and requested a full refund on our purchases. After some hassling, we got the refund.

But then, removing the products proved to be all but impossible despite using the many "removal" tools Symantec provides.

When the software had been partially removed we started getting frequent error messages relating to a Norton Anti-Worm tool that we had never purchased, and had never installed.

Still, Symantec could not provide a way to remove all traces of their products.

So, I would certainly not purchase one of their products again.

I should also add that (at least in the form we purchase) Kaspersky is very modest in cost when compared to other similar products.

All the best,

[Kurt Ullman]

I stopped using NAV about 5-6 years ago when whichever version I was using was no longer supported. Okay, no biggie. But then when I bought and "installed" the new version, the new version would not work because some of the new version conflicted with the old version. Okay, small biggie but still mainly annoying. So I used the old version's "uninstall" then fired up the new version again only to get most of the previous conflicts. Called Symantec and spent about 4 hours (nearly 7 total) taking out bits and pieces by hand from all over the hard drive. That was the end of my having ANYTHING to do with any software company with an "s" in the name (g).

BTW I am VERY happy with my new AV software. OS X!

[salty]

Just because I don't feel obligated to spoon feed you, doesn't mean what I said is not valid.

Consumer reports has made an art form out of comparing items based on data points that are often of no consequence, while ignoring features and elements of performance that are vital to a real evaluation. They also often make GLARING errors that expose their shoddy practices.

No, I'm not going to sit here for hours typing up a synopsis of all their many gaffsgaffs.

Here's one described briefly:

Two VCR's - one gets top rating and one gets bottom. They praise certain features on the top rated unit that they casitgate on the bottom rated unit. Top rated has a much better picture, faster rewind, and so on compared to the bottiom rated unit. Only problem is.... drumroll... They are the exact same unit internally with slightly altered cosmetics and a different brand name on the front. They even use the same service literature and part numbers for servicing. They are built in the same factory on the same assembly line.

Consumer Reports writer asks as he punches in for work, "Okay, what am I an expert on today?"

[aemeijers]

Wrong group, but I'll answer anyway- I've been real happy with PCTools antivirus, around 35 bucks/year for a 3-machine license on their web site. I can legally use Symantec (aka Norton) from work, for free, but after several problems with it fighting with windows, I said the hell with it and went elsewhere. Between the PCTools and switching to Firefox, no infections in close to a year (knock on plastic).

-- aem sends...

[aemeijers]

Oh, I might trust them on household appliances and similar things, but when it comes to cars and electronics, forget it. Anybody else remember their silly rollover stunt with those stupid outriggers that raised the mini-SUV's CG a foot or so? Like articles in newspapers, whenever they write about something that I actually have some expertise on or witnessed, I find myself saying 'that ain't right...' And their reliability ratings are meaningless, like any self-selected polling pool.

-- aem sends...

[Walter R.]

I use free Avast, too. Very small footprint and does not slow down the system like a lot of other AV programs do.

[J. Clarke]

My experience has been that antivirus programs cause far more problems than the virii that they are supposed to be protecting us against. Personally I run a standalone firewall with a software firewall behind it, don't download executables from unknown sites, and never use the administrator account unless I'm doing something that requires administrator access, and I've not had a virus on any of my computers in 20 years. The virus threat is vastly overrated, mostly due to the marketing efforts of the producers of antivirus software.

[Frank]

I use McAfee as it is free from my isp but it is a resource hog. I had used Norton which is not quite as intrusive. I hear Avast is a pretty good program and it's free.

Frank

[Ralph Mowery]

I have been using the free version of AVG for probably 10 years. Seems to work well enough for me. It is hard to find the free version, but I do use it on Win 98 and Win XP systems.

I always thought most anything Norton's as a virus of somekind. Same thing with AOL.

[salty]

You sound like you work at Consumer Reports! LOL

I knew a guy who chain smoked unfiltered camels from age 13 to age 93 when he was ht by a car crossing the street. He didn't get lung cancer, so I guess there is no connection between cigarettes and lung cancer! He proved it.

[salty]

ps.

You misspelled VIRUSES. There is no such word as virii in any language, including dead ones.

[J. Clarke]

I see. So how many viruses has your antivirus program protected you from in the past 20 years and how did they get at your system?

[J. Clarke]

[mm]

I was going to use Avast, but when I started to install it, it said "AVAST", so I stopped.

I tried to find AVG=free on the Grisoft site and it's gotten harder and harder. They have upgrade from free, and free trial, and I know plain old free is in there somewhere, but I couldnt' find it.

I eventually searched on 'avg free' download, and that worked better.

For one:

[Steve Barker DLT]

Well for one thing, it's crashed twice so far (in a month) requiring a re-install.

s

#2. something's going on and i can't go to

anymore.

s

[Steve Barker DLT]

not surprizing at all they were down on norton. I gave up on them 10 years ago. They create their own problems to fix to justify their existance.

s

[HeyBub]

The unanimity on Microsoft newsgroups (i.e. microsoft.public.windowsxp.general) is that there are three things wrong with Norton, any one of which would cause it to be a bad choice.

1. It is a resource hog, consuming from 5-15% of CPU cycles, far more than other AV programs.
2. It interferes with legitimate installations without telling you. This results in programs not working or working incorrectly.
3. Norton is the barnacle of the software world. After you remove it with Add/Remove, you have to download Symantec's Sooper-Sekret removal tool to pry out left-over bits. Then you have to manually scrub the Registry for any remaining spoor.

[Chris]

If you have more than one Windows machine try the Microsoft Live OneCare deal. Has a free trial but after that will cost almost $60/year for 3 PCs, I think. However has more than just anti-virus protection.

Or switch to Linux and get rid of the virus treat for ever :>)

[Ron]

Very first hit on Google "avg 8 free"

[larry moe 'n curly]

Kaspersky has done well in about every review, including the one in the Sept. 2008 Consumer Reports, where it ranked second, overall, scoring 78 points, compared to 80 points for two programs that tied for first place -- BitDefender (best antivirus) and McAfee (best for anti-spam). Oddly, CR didn't list two of the really popular free anti- virus programs, like Avast! and AVG, maybe because new versions came out after publication.

A few months ago, some malware caused my computer to slow to a crawl under XP Home. Norton and Avast! detected nothing, AVG 7 found problems but couldn't fix them at all, while free online scans by BitDefender and Kaspersky detected and partially fixed the problem but required the addition of SmithFraudFix and another specialty fix to permanently wipe the malware. I don't remember what the online versions of Trend and PC Pitstop did.